


Rivals on Ice

by Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26974654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas/pseuds/Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas
Summary: Adora's figure skating coach Angella manages to reserve a private rink for Adora to train in before her next big competition. However, they soon find out that they're not as alone as they thought they were.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	Rivals on Ice

**Author's Note:**

> This work was part of Etherian Games: Princess League Zine ( https://twitter.com/wearethemuscle ), which was sadly scrapped.  
> I still felt like publishing my work though, especially since it also had gorgeous artwork to go with it by the courtesy of  
> Ryuucaro ( https://twitter.com/ryuucaro ), so please go check her out. She's very talented and very fun person to work with!
> 
> I enjoyed working and chatting with everyone involved in this project and I hope I get to see and work with all of you in future.
> 
> You can also find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lordofspiritsan

All throughout her life Adora had been told that she was _the best_ . Her former coach -- Shadow Weaver -- had been eager to hammer that into her head, but as her methods had become more and more reckless, with seemingly little care put into Adora’s well being, she had decided that it was time to change. Now instead of Shadow Weaver, she was being coached by another legendary former figure skater; Angella.  
  
“Thank you for taking me to the practice, Angella,” Adora said while idly looking outside of the car window. “Especially on such short notice too.”  
  
Angella was focusing on the road ahead, but still turned to look at Adora briefly. “No need to thank me. I know from experience that the closer you are to a big competition, the harder it is to relax. You just want to train and train and train. Even sleeping feels like wasted time, doesn’t it?” Angella asked as her lips curled up into a faint smirk. The butterflies she once felt in her stomach only brought her nostalgia nowadays.  
  
“Yeah, you can say that. The competition this year is especially tough too…”  
  
“Oh, you’re talking about _her_ , aren’t you?” Angella glanced at Adora out of the corner of her eye, noticing how her body language instantly changed when she even implied something about Adora’s rival.  
  
“I-is it that obvious…?” Adora sighed as she rubbed her temples. “I mean, there are a lot of good figure skaters, but more often than not it seems to boil down to just me and her when it comes to competing for first place. I still can’t believe that she took Shadow Weaver of all people as her coach, even though I warned her about her methods…”  
  
“Yes, Catra is someone we can’t take lightly. Sometimes people make choices in the heat of the moment. Shadow Weaver was banned for three years for a reason, but if Catra is willing to let her coach her, I suppose then she knows the risks and is willing to take them. Knowing her, she’s willing to do anything to beat you.”  
  
Adora didn’t want to admit it, but she knew Angella was probably right. She more often than not was. “Yeah. I just wish that it didn’t have to come down to this. We’re rivals, but… I still want the best for her. Knowing what she can be like, I just… worry about her, I suppose.”  
  
“It is admirable that you do, Adora, but you need to focus first and foremost on yourself. Catra has made her decisions and she’s the one who has to live with them, not you. You can do your best to push her in the right direction, but ultimately, no one else can make choices for her.”  
  
With the two of them talking, the car ride felt a lot shorter than it actually was. Soon enough, they were out of Angella’s car and inside the arena, with Adora heading to change and Angella going to the stage.  
  
Having changed in and out of her figure skates thousands of times by now, it didn’t take long for Adora to be out of the changing room and in the rink. What did surprise her, however, was that the first thing she heard wasn’t Angella greeting her, but rather an argument with someone. Someone she sadly knew very well.  
  
“What are you doing here?!” Angella shouted. “I reserved this rink for the entire day!”  
  
Shadow Weaver rolled her eyes before laughing dryly. “Oh my dear Angella. Don’t you know how easily these modern systems can malfunction?” Shadow Weaver smiled while rubbing her thumb and index finger together, not so subtly implying just how she had gotten her way in despite the arena seemingly being reserved. “Besides, it’s quite rude of you to take an entire arena just for yourself, isn’t it? It’s not like _Adora_ is the only one who’s in need of training…”  
  
Just hearing Shadow Weaver speak her name made Adora visibly shiver. As she was looking at her out of the corner of her eye while stretching, she saw another familiar figure make her way into the rink.  
  
For almost as long as Adora could remember, she and Catra had both been skating in the same rinks, rising from juniors to their current fame. Over the years, their somewhat uneasy friendship had turned into a rivalry that had only gotten more and more heated in recent years.  
  
“Hey Adora,” Catra taunted in her usual, sultry way. Much like Adora, she too was wearing her training outfit instead of her usual flashy attires that the crowds were used to seeing. Much like Adora’s, Catra’s outfit too was almost all black and covered her nearly from head to toe, with colors and symbols on both sides to make it individual and recognizable from the rest.  
  
“Catra…” Adora grunted. Finally done with her stretching, she skated her way to the middle of the rink where Catra was. “Why are you here?”  
  
“What a stupid question to ask,” Catra was quick to reply, with a smug smirk on her face. “I’m here to train, of course. Just like you.”  
  
Adora turned to look at Angella briefly, but it seemed like this situation was at a stand still. With a deep sigh, Adora closed her eyes briefly before turning to look at Catra once again. “I suppose we’ll just have to learn to share, then.”  
  
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Catra shrugged. “Just don’t get in my way and we’re good.”  
  
“Oh, big talk for someone who came in second in the last competition. The one before that too,” Adora smirked back.  
  
Catra stared at Adora before hissing at her. “Well, whatever. This time, I’m gonna be the one to come out on top, and then we’ll see who the one smiling is. Hint: it will be me.”  
  
“That’s not… much of a hint, that’s just… ugh, whatever,” Adora groaned and shook her head. “Can we skate around in circles, then? We can’t really split the area in half since this is a smaller rink than the normal, so lets both just start on one end and then move around in circles, okay? I know you’re faster than me, but I think this should be fine, right?”  
  
Catra pouted before nodding. “Yeah, fine. Works for me.” Adora always had a weird way of saying praises like they were nothing, which still caught Catra off guard after all these years. She knew that she was faster, but to hear her rival say it out loud made Catra blush. It was moments like these that made her happy she had some fur on her face to mostly cover it up.  
  
With both of them at the opposite sides of the rink, they started to train. While Catra and Adora were busy stretching and warming up, both Shadow Weaver and Angella had finally stopped arguing. They both knew that compromising was the best solution for everyone involved, even though admitting that didn’t sit well with either of them.  
  
Adora’s style of figure skating was best described as traditional. She was professional and by the books; not often taking any huge risks with her maneuvers, but instead relying on a steady performance to bring the points home needed to win. That was a winning strategy more often than not. Adora had been a lot more reckless in the past with Shadow Weaver pushing her to embrace her reckless nature that had often left her injured. Even after returning from the hospital, she had always pushed her to do it again and again. After one too many broken bones, Adora had finally realized that she wasn’t really being coached, but rather used.  
  
Catra’s style was a lot more high risk, high reward in comparison. Her jumps often involved unnecessary, but high point worthy maneuvers. Knowing that it wasn’t just Catra who pushed herself to do those -- but more so Shadow Weaver prompting her -- made Adora furious. She had been in Catra’s shoes before, but it seemed like nothing was getting through her thick skull. She had made up her mind, and to her, it meant taking forbidden options like Shadow Weaver into account.  
  


Both Catra and Adora started to skate their way towards the other end of the rink, doing their best to give each other enough space to practice. However, many of the jumps they needed to practice required both plenty of speed and space to pull off, so even for professionals like them, this was proving to be difficult. Nevertheless, the two of them passed each other by before performing their jumps.  
  
Adora was starting off safe, as she performed a combination of a half loop jump followed by a series of euler jumps. They were far from being overly flashy, but it was how Adora preferred it; especially since she was just warming up. When she looked at the other end of the rink, though, she saw Catra finishing her own jump.  
  
As expected, she was starting off with something flashier in the form of an axel jump. If there was already someone counting points here, it was Catra who had the potential for a higher overall score. Launching herself up in the air by the outside edge of her blade, Catra spun around and landed on the opposite outside edge. She was a tiny bit wobbly afterwards, but managed to maintain her balance with the help of her tail. Noticing how Adora was looking at her, Catra simply waved back at her; a smug smirk practically shining on her face. Even though she was at the opposite end, Adora could still see it.  
  
“Stop focusing on her and focus on what’s truly important,” Shadow Weaver grunted from a nearby booth.  
  
“I am!” Catra hissed back.  
  
“Clearly you’re not. Forget about Adora and just focus on what we came here to do.”  
  
“Easier said than done, since if you haven’t noticed, I’m sharing this freaking rink with her!”  
  
Shadow Weaver rolled her eyes and hand waved Catra away, gesturing for her to continue her routine instead of the argument. Catra was more than happy to oblige.  
  
“You’re doing great, Adora,” Angella cheered from her booth. “Just keep it slow and steady, as we all know--”  
  
“--Yes, yes, slow and steady wins the race, I know that. I just…” Adora mumbled as she continued to glance to the other side every now and then. “I think I need to try out some of those jumps too, Angella. I need to get out of my comfort zone.”  
  
“Last time that came at the cost of many broken bones, did it not?” Angella pointed out.  
  
“Yeah, I can’t argue with that, but I have a much better coach now,” Adora smiled back.  
  
Angella sighed, knowing full well that she couldn’t really argue with Adora once she had made up her mind. Much like Catra, Adora also had a bad habit of being painfully stubborn at times. In more ways than one, the two of them were more alike than either of them were willing to ever admit. “Fine then, but... just be careful. Don’t go full on _Catra_ , okay? You don’t exactly have her sense of balance.”  
  
“Maybe if I grew a tail, I would…” Adora mumbled under her breath before taking her leave.  
  
Both Catra and Adora picked up speed again as they made their way once again to opposite ends of the rink. Catra tried her best to shut out Shadow Weaver’s nagging voice in her head by closing her eyes and slapping herself on her cheeks, repeating the word “Focus” to herself like a mantra. So focused was she that she didn’t realize something was horribly wrong until it was far too late.  
  
By the time Catra opened her eyes, she heard screaming in her ear, soon joined by her own. As Adora had tried to perform something out of her usual routine, she had ended up sliding accidentally closer and closer to Catra’s side and eventually lost control. She hadn’t been able to stop herself, and no matter how hard she had yelled for Catra to dodge, it had all gone to deaf, fuzzy ears.  
  
The next moment Catra opened her eyes, she was feeling something around her. Adora had been clumsy, yet still considerate, as she had wrapped her arms around Catra to shield her as they had fallen on top of the ice, with Catra landing on top.  
  
“What happened?” Catra grunted as she slowly came back to her senses.  
  
“Um, I think I might have lost my balance there a bit and ended up on your side and… yeah…” Adora mumbled in response.  
  
Looking at Adora, Catra wanted to yell at her, but seeing how she was the one with the vast majority of the bruises, she found it hard to be genuinely angry at her. This was far from their first bump like this, and knowing them, this wouldn’t be the last one either. In their line of business, bumps and bruises were pretty much an everyday occurrence, despite the gracefulness of their movement.  
  
“It’s fine. Happens to the best of us. I mean, that’s what we are. The best. So…” Catra smirked back. As she got back on her feet, she extended her hand towards Adora. “Let’s get you back on your feet too. Can’t exactly practice if you’re just gonna lie there, now can I?”  
  
“You can always jump over me?” Adora snorted as she grabbed Catra’s hand with both of her own, cupping it between her palms as she used her body weight to help herself back up. Upon lifting her head a bit, she saw even through Catra’s facial fur that she was blushing. Much like a yawn, it was contagious, and Adora soon felt quite warm all of a sudden herself. “Guess you really did come out on top then, huh?” Adora snorted, with Catra joining in too.

  
  
“Stop loitering with the enemy!” Shadow Weaver yelled as she was running towards the two of them.  
  
“She’s not my enemy,” Catra replied. “She’s… Adora. She’s my rival, but I don’t hate her, and you can’t make me no matter how hard you try!”  
  
“Is everything okay, Adora?” Angella said, as she had been equally quick to get up and inspect what had happened.  
  
“I’m fine, no need to worry,” Adora said as she turned to look at Angella. “I’m gonna go and put on a few bandages. See you soon, Catra.”  
  
Looking over her shoulder, Catra smiled back at Adora. “Yeah, you better come back. Would be boring with you.”  
  
As Angella was guiding Adora out of the rink, she couldn’t help but to smile. It didn’t exactly take a mind reader to know that there was a lot more than just a rivalry between these two. But that was a topic to bring up with Adora on their next car ride.


End file.
